1976 was a slow year for Yamato. As “super robots” took over the anime landscape, Yamato fans probably despaired that their show was over forever. In fact, the most important action was happening under the surface, destined to change everything. But for now, let’s see what got Yamato fans through this year of dim prospects.
Even before the first TV series concluded, the next and most important phase of Yamato history began: the “redemption year.” Its driver was an unexpected force that would slowly but steadily change everything for the better. The name of that force was “fandom.” In 1975, that force took shape for the first time.
This series answers the question, “What if Cosmo DNA existed in real time during the production years?” Everything is chronicled in the order it all happened, bringing history to life in a whole new way. First up: the prehistory of Yamato all the way up to the end of “origin year” 1974. [2 pages]
When the first Star Blazers series came to DVD in 2001, they came with extensive galleries as bonus features that catalogued every aspect of the story: characters, ships, mecha, weapons, history, and more. Here you can examine each of those galleries in full and maybe even find something new.
It’s a sure mark of a story’s universal appeal when it jumps freely from one medium to another. The journey to Iscandar and back is one such story, having appeared in every form of modern media and thrived in all of them. How many roads lead to Iscandar? Probably more than you think.
In this second half of a rare conversation with one of the mecha design superstars behind the original Yamato, Miyatake discusses his role in both the 1974 series and Yamato 2199, which had to have his special touch before director Yutaka Izubuchi could consider it to be authentic.
As a key Studio Nue mecha designer on the original series, Miyatake was an eyewitness to the secret origins of Space Battleship Yamato. On the night of September 3, 2013 he made a rare personal appearance in the Yamatalk series to sit down with 2199 director Yutaka Izubuchi and tell a story that had never been told before…
A series of columns for New Type Ace magazine by Ryusuke Hikawa, the original Yamato superfan. Looking back from the vantage point of the 21st century, Hikawa examines the indelible impact of the original Space Battleship Yamato with unparalleled depth and insight into the art of anime production.
Yamato took well over a year to create as Executive Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki slowly gathered his dream team and carefully crafted his masterpiece. Fortunately for us, all the major stages of that process were preserved, and this series of articles tracks Yamato‘s origins from start to finish.
An essay written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki in 1977, discussing the earliest phases of pre-production, from the first hint of the idea through the rigors of world-building and the arrival of Leiji Matsumoto. Nishizaki’s words provide an invaluable personal record of this remarkable period in anime history.
Keisuke Fujikawa was the most prolific writer of the entire saga, responsible for well over half of all the TV episode scripts and a major figure in the writing of the movies. His story proposal was written in April 1973, the earliest attempt to capture in words the story we would eventually come to know.
SF novelist and television writer Aritsune Toyota wrote a story proposal that went in a slightly different direction. The working title was Asteroid 6, which became Asteroid Ship when Nishizaki decided this was the way to go. Presented here is the complete text of Toyota’s proposal.
In the summer of 1973, a critical threshold was reached when the title Space Battleship Yamato finally emerged. By late summer, a 45-page plan book was assembled by writer Eiichi Yamamoto which combined text with artwork. Here is the full text of that book, translated to English for the first time. [2 pages]
There still would have been a Space Battleship Yamato without Leiji Matsumoto, but none can deny that it wouldn’t be the Yamato we know and love today. Unsatisfied with many of the ideas in the 1973 plan book, Matsumoto wrote his story treatment in April and May of 1974, presented here in full.
Collected here is a mish-mash of Leiji Matsumoto’s story notes written during the spring and summer 1974, demonstrating how truly inspired he was in this pivotal phase. This included a wide range of characters on the Gamilas side that later informed the concepts of Yamato 2199.
A composite summary of the charts and story memos for the 39-episode version before the forced reduction to 26. Episodes 1-10 made it to TV largely intact, but everything that followed was subject to heavy revision, compression, or elimination. Some of the lost material would later inform the creation of Yamato 2199.
Getting all the story ideas lined up was one thing; turning words into pictures for the first time was quite another. As network negotiations concluded, Yoshinobu Nishizaki decided to produce ten minutes of finished animation for a pilot film as a warmup for the TV series, marking Yamato‘s first breath of life.
Like everything else about the first series, the character design went through many phases before finally taking shape as the anime icons we know now. Leiji Matsumoto began developing the story and the early character designs simultaneously. As time went on and the project got exponentially bigger, others joined him.
Leiji Matsumoto’s Captain Harlock played a part in every aspect of the first Yamato series except the anime, as important to the story as any other character. Looking back at this unique timeframe, we can fully examine the passing of these two great ships on their way toward separate destinations.
Japanese children who were attentive enough to tune into the Yomiuri TV Network at 7:30 pm, Sunday, October 6th, couldn’t possibly know they were witnessing an historic moment. In a way, 1974 itself was Yamato’s most formidable obstacle. What was it like in a world where the word “anime” itself didn’t yet exist?
The first-ever interview with the chief director, published in a fanzine titled Yamato from the Cosmo Battleship Yamato Laboratory fan club. The interviewer was Tatsuya Nakatani, who now works as a professional anime writer under the name Ryusuke Hikawa.
Fantoche magazine #2 published this very early interview with Leiji Matsumoto when he was still a humble newcomer to the world of anime. This may, in fact, be the first published interview with Matsumoto after his work on Yamato, and therefore captured his freshest memories of the experience.
A 25th anniversary Yamato LD series was reelased in 1998. They included a serialized essay by Matsumoto about his Yamato experiences. This contained the first announcement of his intention to create a new story and his ambitious plans for the next 25 years. The entire essay is presented here.
From Wave-Motion Guns to tinkling glass, the sound effects creator discusses his experiences making the original Space Battleship Yamato series. (from the Yamato 2199 Chapter 3 movie program book.)
Chief director Ishiguro co-wrote an account of his life as an animator titled TV Anime Frontline, published in July 1980. This is the Yamato chapter from his book, which includes gossip and stories found nowhere else.
A who’s who of the men who made Yamato. Office Academy Studio was an academy for the entire anime industry. In the anime boom that followed, practically every high-profile production had a Yamato veteran in it somewhere, so it’s time to make more of their names known to the English-speaking world.
